Coat hanger cover applying machine



Sept. 30, 1958 Y AIL. MADSEN 2,853,840

COAT HANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR Abner L Madsen BY WMQKK W ATTORNEY Sept. 30, 1958 A. L. MADSENCOAT HANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1956E E: MN

NSF

INVENTOR Abner L. Madsen M ATTORNEY P 30, 1958 A. L. MADSEN 2,853,840

COAT HANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 39 5 Fla 3 2/ INVENTOR 5' Q Abner L. Mbdsen BY Wait/190K ATTORNEY Sept.30, 1958 A. L. MADSEN 2,853,840

COAT HANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4FIG. 4

. .M r g 'INVENTOR Abner L. Mao'sen BY hAzVZ/W ATTORNEY p 30, 1953 A. L.MADSEN 2,853,840

COAT HANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR Abner L. Madsen BY hyfu/f ATTORNEY United States Patent COATHANGER COVER APPLYING MACHINE I Abner L. Madsen, Mundelein, Ill.

Application August 24, 1956, Serial No. 606,139 I 7 Claims. (Cl. 53-200)This invention relates to automatic cover applicators for ordinary'wireclothes hangers to render them useful in the safe handling of cleanclothes.

In many of the better cleaning establishments where the ordinary-wirecoat hangers are commonly used in the handling of the cleaned garments,a paper cover has been used over the hanger to protect the clothes fromany dirt or rust on the hanger as well as to keep them from possiblesnagging on any rough spots that are occasionally found on parts of thewire that may come into contact with some delicate clothing materials.It has been customary to apply these paper covers, such as e. g. thoseshown in my prior Patent No. 2,566,232, to these hangers by hand. Thisbecomes a tedious and time consuming process when a multitude of hangersare involved.

The present invention was devised to reduce the time and labor requiredfor applying the covers to the hangers, as well as to minimize the cost.

I The object of this invention is to provide a machine for automaticallyapplying the above type of covers to the common type of wire clotheshangers on amass production basis, starting with a continuous line ofthe clothes hangers and a stack of the die cut covers and ending with aline of covered hangers.

the bare wire hangers one at a time in the above machine, with a sensingdevice for controlling the paper cover feeding means whereby to feed acoveronly during the cycles of operation when a wire hanger has beenstarted on its cycle through the machine. I I A further object is toprovide electro-magnetic antijiggling means to aid in stabilizing themovement of each individual hanger against rebound from guide platesagainst which it is fed at the beginning of each cycle of operation.

A further object is to provide means for centering the.

hanger over the horizontally fed cover sheet, as the hanger is droppedthereover, with its horizontal wire'portion resting in a pair of releasefingers just back of the corresponding edge of the cover and in linewith a pair of resiliently pressed feed rollers positioned below thecover sheet, and means for then opening the release fingers and pushingthe hanger down to fold the cover upwardly over said horizontal wireportion and start the hanger with the cover downwardly through thesefeed rollers into a lower station.

A further object is to provide means for feeding one cover sheet at atime from a stack horizontally into po sition against a back stop oversaid pair of pressure rollers in response to said sensing devicewhenever a hanger has been started on its cycle.

A further object is to provide a horizontally reciproa cating supportfor receiving the hanger in said lower station and, after it has beenturned into its horizontal position and theupper corners of the coversimultaneous-' ly drawn over the slanting sides of the hanger, 'feedingits hook end between two laterally spacedside pairs of Another object isto devise a novel means for feeding T ice 2 horizontal pressure rollersto guide the sides of the hanger into and through these rollers wherebyto fold, press and seal the cover corners over the inside surface of theintermediate portion of the cover.

A further object is to provide a flipper means for flipping the hangerover from its vertical position resting on said support to itshorizontal position thereon prior to reciprocation of the support tofeed the hanger into the two pairs of rollers, to provide centeringmeans for centering the hanger against said flipper before the flippingoperation, and to provide an opening in a wall through which the hangeris flipped, having slanting edges coextensive with the slanting hangersides, whereby the upper corners of the cover are simultaneously drawnover the hanger sides and folded thereover by the pairs of pressurerollers as the hanger is fed horizontally therebetween by thereciprocating support.

A further object is to provide a collector rod with an elevated hook endfor receiving the covered hangers as.

they emerge from said pairs of rollers.

A further object is to provide safety cut-off means for stopping themachine in the event of jamming of the flipper means due to accidentalmisalignment of the hanger with the opening through which it is flipped.

Other and more specific objects of this invention will become apparentin the following detailed description of a preferred form ofconstruction of the machine as illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the complete machine,

Fig.- 2 is a right side elevational view with part of the near sidecover plates removed,

Fig. 3 is a left side elevational view of the rear por tion of themachine with the near side ofthe frame work removed to show the internalarrangement of parts,

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the machine,

Fig. 5 shows the flipper operating cam groove and lever mechanism on theleft side of the machine.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail plan view of the driving gears for thehanger supply and guide rods,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail plan view of the lower centering means forthe hanger at the flipper station.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail elevational view of the solenoid operatedvacuum-breaking valve,

Fig. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the operating parts showingthe path that the hanger and cover take in going through the machine,

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a cover sheet showing bands of pressureadhesive applied thereto to provide adhesion of the folded edge andupper corners when folded over the hanger wire and pressed between therespective pressure rollers, and I Fig; 11 is an elevational view of thehanger with the cover applied.

The machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a generallyrectangular framework substantially closed on the sides and the lowerportion of the front.

The'bare wire hangers 20 are hung over the upper of a pair of verticallyspaced parallel shafts 21 and 22 extending from bearing supports 23 and24 at the top rear of the machine to a slightly lower height near thefront, to provide a slight incline for urging the hangers hanging on thesmooth portion of. shaft 21 at the rear toward the helically groovedfront portion 25, as the shafts 21 and 22 are continuously turned duringoperation of the machine, so that the hanger hooks may be picked up oneat .each turn of the shaft by the tapered upper end of 'the threadforming the groove, and fed in the gandreleasing it after turning afurther or more.

ShaftsZl and 22 are geared together for rotation in op-- t a posite'direc'tionsby g'ears27' and 28, and are driven through bevel gears 29and 30 by the'chainsprocket '31' on shaft 32.

Chain sprocket 31 isdriven by chain 33 from sprocket 34' on the driveshaft 35,--'-which is driven'by spr'oc'lt'et37; and chain 38 fromthe-sprocket 39 on shaft 40', which has"anothersprocke't' 4-1 and chain42 for' driving the other operating partsof'the'machine in".timed"'relation"' through successive, cycles of operation,"as-willibeirnorefully described hereinafter.

The vacuum and pressure air supply pump 36""foi" maintaining a sourceoftvacuum 43' and a source of'pres sure 44, is driven independentlybymotor '45 througli' belt46 and'suitable'pulleys47 and 4 8Thet'sourc'es '43: and '44are connected by suitable tubing" 49"and fl'with th'e' pap'er cover sheet feeding 'meansin'a we'll known manner" toassist in picking up the" cover sheets one'at' a time'atthepropertimesin the" cycles of operation "and' dropping them at'theentrance to'the fe'edi'convey'or 51 for conveyin each sheet horizontallyforward, ever the roller shield 52 and 'upagainstthe"backstopssgin'itime" for thehang'er to be droppedand fed downwardlyto fold the edge of the covenover the horizontahportion'of'the wirehanger as it'passes'down through the vrollers "54" and 55.

The suction tubing 49 is connected through a manifold 56 fordistributingthe vacuum, to the suction cups ofth'e' feeding mechanismfor lifting the top cover sheet from the stack. A pivoted flap 57 isnormally held resiliently in closed position over an aperture in themanifold 56 A solenoid 58 opens this aperture by. moving the flap.

05 of it, to break the suction and prevent feeding a cover sheet duringa cycle when no coat hanger is fed bythe groove 25 of rod 21. Thesolenoid circuit is closed only. at the instant in any cycle when thecover feed suction cups would normally be picking up a. cover sheet, butnohanger has been released to operate the normally closed micro switch59 to break the circuit.- Switch" 59 is-in serieswith micro-switch 60which is-normally open and is closed cyclically by cam 61 only duringthe pick up Switches59 and 60, being in series, will close the solenoidcircuit to period of the cover sheet feeding means.

operate and thus preventfeeding a cover sheet only when a hanger is'notstarted on its cycle through-the machine,-

shaft 40 which also drives the hanger feeding and proe-- essing means intimed cyclical-sequence.

However thisshaft 40 is driven by motor 63 through: a belt-E62, asuitable gear reduction 64 and friction clutch means 65 which will giveat a predetermined overload torque to prevent damage. to the operatingmeans 1 in 'case of q-jamming' at any'particular point in -the machine.The 'motor 63 may be providedwithan-automatically:adjustabledrive pulley66" for adjusting'the speed of operation 'of the" machinebymovingthemotor on its base-to chang'e thedistance between pulleys 66and 67 and thuse' change' ingthe etfective diameter of the pulley 66;This "pulley:

is of-well known construction, having;V"-groove formed-by opposed discsaxially biased-toward :e'achf otherto-urge the- V-belt 62 radiallyoutwardlyto take outf-ifs slack 'whenthe'motor is moved tobrin'g'thefurther a art. I a Referring: new""niore particularly" Fi .9; as'flte;rnadifiief'is operated," a hanger 2J0 normally'enrergesat the lower endof the groove 25 onto the tapered hooked end-26-.' In slidingdown thetapered endfl after leavingr the groove, the hanger dangles haphazardlyuntil its hook reaches the hooked end of the taper and its lowerhorizontal wire portion approaches the front guide plate 68. At thistime in the cycle of operations a normally open micro-switch 69 isoperated by a cam on the shaft 70 to complete a circuit through-thestabilizing solenoid 71 which is mounted in an opening in the guideplate.68, flush with the rear surface thereof. The" solenoidi's thusenergized and draws the hanger upagainst the rear surface of the plateand stops it from bouncing. around, so that'when the hook onthetaperedendof'rodhas turned to release the-hanger and the solenoid has been a 'alevel just above the pair of rollers 54 and 55. At this instantth'ecentering 'jaws'75'iand 76are''svvi'n'ging in-- w'ardly against thecornersiof' the. wire loo'pjof thehangen while in the meantime a coversheet 77 has beenfed" through the belt conveyor'slinto position withitsforward'edge'over'the'pair' of rollers "54 and 55, up against theback-sto 53-.

The nextstep' in the cycle of operations is' the opening of thefingers'74 to "release'the' hanger, followed imm'e-L' diately by thepartial roller 73 rolling against theiidle roller to resiliently (graspthe upper part of the hanger therebetwe'en and force itidownwa'rdly,causing its lower' horizontalportion to pick upthe cover sheet, creasingj itsed'ge andfolding it over this'horizontal wire portion as the""roller-s54 amiss resiliently receive the combined hanger and cover,sealing the edge of the cover over at. the adhesive strip portionsbypressing them together. As the'harige'r with the cover emerges fromthese rollers 54 and 55, it drops to the reciprocating support 78,,andis held in an upright position between-the back'ofKtl e' flipper 79 andthe front of guide plate 80, as shown in. the schematic diagram of Fig.9.

At this time another bare hanger may be'startedon its cycle as shown' inthis figure, and a cover sheet. 77 'fed" through the belt conveyor 51;In this mannerthe co'veringtprocessmay be carried out in quicksuccession. on the hangers automatically and. continuously, as long as,a supply of bare hangers is maintained at the top of the. rodJ ZIand.the. finished, covered hangers. are periodically, withdrawn fromthelower. rod 81. .T.

Immediately after the hanger: with th'e-cover isfdrOPPfl'd. to thesupport 78,1 a centering. pair of jaws 82, positioned near the toplof.the flipper,- .are operated 'to move-thehanger laterally into position,with its hook-shank aligned with the narrow neck portion of the flipper79.

The flipper is then operated to turn the hanger down flat on thesupport..78 by pushing it through the opening in the guide, plate 80with flexible triangular side flaps, extending from the angular sides ofthe opening so as to flex the upper corners of the cover sheet over theangular wire port-ions of-the hanger. Thus, when the support 78 is,pulleys' closer 'to each other, and to permit'the v beltto ride "deeperin the groove by separating the discs further apa'rfand thus provide asmaller-eifective pulleydiafileter' wfienthe-motoris adjusted on itsbasei'tor'movethe-pulleys then moved back in its horizontalreciprocation, its lugs. 83 will push the hanger backward and the hangersides in between the side pairs of rollers 84 which will receive themresiliently and press thesevupper corners of the cover sheet over theinner surface of the cover sheet as the rollers continue to pass thehanger therethrough, to firmly stick the contacting strips of adhesiveon th'e coversheet together tohold the cover sheet folded in place. Asthe hanger emerges "from these side pairs of rollers, its hook end moveshorizontally over the raised open end 'of the receiving rod 81, sothatit is caught in a hanging po-l sition thereby and slides downwardlythereon toward the "other hangers previously caught by the rod andgathered, at the rear lower end of the rod. The finished coveredhaug'ershave to be removed at intervals to,provi'de room forthesuccessive'accumulation of coveredhafige'fs during continuous operationof the machine:

The cover sheets 77 may be supplied in stacks, their I worm gear 07 andworm 88 for irreversible adjustment either by a manually operated handwheel 89 or automatically through clutch 90 by bevel gears 91 from themachine power drive system to raise the table in response to a controlswitch 92 for operating the clutch 90 which is normally disconnected,into connected position. The control switch .92 which is snapped closedby a cam 93 on shaft 94 operated by level sensing lever 95'the outer endof which rests on'the top of the stack of cover;

sheets. When the stack is raised sufliciently the cam snaps the switchopen to. disconnect the clutchuntil the top of the stack becomes too lowagain for proper feeding. Thus the level of the top of the stack isautomatically kept within operative limits as the stack is reduced,until used up. The table 84 may be counterbalanced by weights on thefree end of the chain 96 to "reduce the load on the adjusting mechanism,if desired.

The belt conveyor 51may be driven by belt 97 v from a large pulley 98 onshaft 99. Belt 97 drives small pulleys on conveyor shafts 100 and 101'in one direction for the lower set of rollers and shaft 102 in theopposite direction for the upper set of rollers to cause their adjacentconveyor belts to move in the feeding direction.

Shaft 99 is one of the cyclically operated shafts of the machine fordriving the partial roller 73 and the microswitch earns 61 and 70, aswell as the cam 103 for opening the fingers 74, and the two cam grooves104 and 105 for operating the swinging centering jaws 75 and 76respectively in proper timed relation as described. This shaft alsocarries a cam 106 for operating the bell crank 107 to close the lowercentering jaws 82 through lever 108 and links 109 operating in ahorizontal plane.

Drive chain 42 passes from drive sprocket 41 over sprocket 110 as shownin Fig. 2, then sprocket 111 on shaft 112 for driving the pairs of siderollers 84, then upwardly over sprocket 113 for driving shaft 99, thendownwardly over idling sprocket 114 on the shaft 115 of roller 54, andback to sprocket 41. Roller 54 is driven from the shaft 116 of roller 55by matching gears 117 on the two roller shafts. Shaft 116 has a sprocket118 driven by chain 119 from a sprocket 120 on shaft 99 so as to drivethe rollers 54 and 55 in the proper feed direction.

A companion sprocket fixed alongside of sprocket 110 is connected bychain 121 to a sprocket 122 on shaft 123 for operating roller arm 124 tooperate the bell crank 125, the other arm of which is connected to thereciprocating support 78 by link 126.

Support 78 is cut-away at its rear end to move in the space between theside pairs of rollers 84. It is normally resiliently held in its forwardposition as shown in Fig. 3 by the axially extending expansion spring127 and two side compression springs 128 mounted around guide bolts 129on which the support 78 is slidably mounted. When in retracted orforward position the rear end of the support will not interfere with thedropping of the lower horizontal edge of the hanger as it swings downover the lower of the side pairs of rollers and its hook catches overthe end of rod 81.

Shaft 112 extends through the left side of the machine frame and 'isprovided with an eccentric groove cam 130, in which a pin in yoke arm131 is guided by the yoke of the arm being saddled over the end of theshaft 112, thus moving the arm substantially axially to oscillate thearm 132 on the shaft 133 for turning the flipper through substantially90 at the proper time as described. A spring 144 may be connected to thearm.132, as shown, to take up the play in one direction.

The shaft 133 includes a cross pin 134, in one portion of the shaft,resting in a V-groove of an axially biased collar 135 slidably keyed toan adjacent portion of the shaft for transmitting the torque between theportions during operation, so that if a hanger gets jammed between theflipper and other parts of the machine, the flipper or other parts willnot break, because this safety joint will give. The pin will merelyforce the collar to slide axially on its keyway as it slips out of theV-groove.

The axial movement of the collar will operate a safety cut-offmicro-switch 136 which breaks the power circuit and stops operation ofthe machine, so that the trouble may be taken care of before operationis resumed.

Bridge plates 137 and 138 at opposite ends of the belt conveyor 51 arefor guiding the cover sheets over the spaces between the conveyor andthe stack of, cover sheets at one end and the feed roller 55 at theother end.

A switch box 139 with starting and stopping push buttons 140 and 141 maybe mounted at the top of the machine, as shown.

The suction and pressure cups 142 are operated in a well known manner topick up the top cover sheet and move it into the conveyor 51 as alreadydescribed, in cyclic cooperation with the feed of the hangers.

The cover sheets 77, as disclosed in my prior patent, are I providedwith a coating of pressure type adhesive 143 applied in four strips onone side of a sheet as shown more specificallyinFig. 10. This type ofadhesive will not stick even with the application of considerablepressure to any uncoated surfaces, but when pressed against similarlycoated surfaces it will readily stick firmly thereto. Thus when thelower edge is folded over the horizontal wire portion of the hanger andpressed between the feed rollers the adhesive strips are pressed overeach other and seal themselves together. Similarly when the uppercorners are folded and pressed between the rollers, considerableportions of the adhesive strips are sealed together to hold the coversheet firmly in place over the hanger frame as shown in Fig. 11.

Many obvious modifications in the form and arrangement of parts may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cover applying machine for wire coat hangers, comprising a hangerpole for receiving a supply of coat hangers of conventional wireconstruction, a table for receiving a stack of cover sheets havingsuitable adhesive coatings on their upper surfaces, and cyclicallyoperated means including means for bringing together a cover sheet fromthe top of said stack and a hanger from 'the end of the said pole, meansfor properly aligning said hanger with respect to said sheet, means forfolding an edge of the sheet over the horizontal wire portion of saidhanger and pressing its adhesive portions to seal them together, meansfor folding the upper corners of said sheet over the angular side wireportions of said hanger and similarly sealing them to the inside surfaceof said sheet, and a raised open ended pole for receiving said coveredhangers and accumulating them by sliding thereon toward its supportedlower end, and sensing means for interrupting the bringing of a sheet inany cycle when a hanger is a not delivered from the end of the pole.

2. A cover applying, machine for wire coat hangers, comprising a hangerpole for receiving a supply of coat hangers of conventional Wireconstruction, a table for receiving a stack of cover sheets havingsuitable adhesive coatings on their upper surfaces, and cyclicallyoperated means including means for bringing together a cover sheet fromthe top of said stack and a hanger from the end of the said pole, meansfor properly aligning said hanger with respect to said sheet, means forfolding an edge of the sheet over the horizontal wire portion of saidhanger and pressing its adhesive portions to seal them together, meansfor folding the upper corners of said sheet over the angular side wireportions of said hanger and similarlysealing them to the inside surfaceof said sheen and; a-rais'ed open ended pole for receiving saidcoveredhangers and accumulating them bysli'ding thereon toward its Supportedlower end, said means for bringing the sheet and hanger togethercomprising means for feeding said sheet forwardlyto a position against astop,; and means for releasing a hanger from the end of said hanger poledirectly over said sheet, said: aligning means including. cen:

teringpjaws 'atth'e outer corners. of the hanger. frame for centeringit'wi'th respect to said sheet in case it fell off centerinfallihg' intothe'fingers, andmeans for then opening said fingers and pushing saidhanger down on said sheet;

4. A 'machine as'defin'ed in claim 3; said edge folding I meansincluding a pair of rotating hard'rubher pressure rollers directly undersaid sheet I for receiving jth'e' horizontal wire portion of the frame-with'said edge ofthe sheet folded over it'to press and'seal said edgeto the inside surface of said sheet as therihanger and sheet are fedthrough said rollers.

5-. A machine as defined iniclaim4, a flipper, a .yertical. 1

guide plate behind it, and a horizontally reciprocable supporfbelowthemfor'receiving' 'said'hanger and partially I attached sheet on'the frontof said support between the flipper and guide plate,imeans'. for: then.centeringjsaidT hanger andsheet Wkhlespeettosaiid, flipper, said guideplate'havinglan opening. corresponding substantially to the0i1tline.of.saidl'1anger and havingv resiliently flexible flapsextending .from the angularsidjesof the opening, said upper cornerfolding means including means. for operating the' fiippento turn thehanger down on said support, the fiaps .drawing the upper corners ofsaid sheet over the angular ,side'wireportions of said hanger, a pair ofresiliently pressed rotating rollers on each sideof the hook portion ofsaid'hanger, means for then reciprocating said support to start .said'hanger through said pairs of rollers, said-support having lugsjack ofthe straight edge of said hanger to push it for starting through saidrollers, and an inclined "pole having its upper open end in position to=-receiye"th e hook portion ofthe hanger. as it emerges from said side.pairs of"rollers"forj sliding'ly accumulating said hangerstowarditslower end.

6; Amachine' as defined in claimS, said flipper having a shaft with;maximum torque'safety release joint to prevent breakage ofparts; in casea hanger jamsithe flipper.

7 ma'chinefasdefined in claim 6, and" a safety microswitch operative'inresponse to such release of said joint tocut 'offthe'machine operation,whereby the trouble can be remedied beforeresuming operation.

References Cited-in .the file of this patent UNITED STATESyPATENTS-l2,661 58'3 Siam-ions-et-"a1; Dec. 8, 1953

